Mixed mode (I+II) fracture toughness of polymer nanoclay nanocomposites

Multifunctional polymer nanocomposites with enhanced mechanical and anti-microbial properties

“…makes it also evident that the nanocomposite strength and strain to failure are monotonously decreased while increasing clay loading, in agreement with results reported by other authors[16,17].…”

“…Moreover, a significant roughness is evident on the fracture surface, caused by pronounced crack deflections and cluster ruptures. Such a kind of fracture surface is typical of intercalated platelets [16,17].…”

“…Due to their very high aspect ratio, nanoclay platelets are suitable to improve the tensile elastic modulus of polymeric systems [9][10][11], the matrix fracture toughness [16,17] and, in principle, the strength, even if conflicting results have been reported [12][13][14][15][16].…”

The effect of carbon nanoparticles on the fatigue performance of carbon fibre reinforced epoxy

“…Many experimental studies of non-fibre reinforced polymers, so-called nanocomposites, resulted in these findings by the addition of low nanoparticle contents [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. This effect was always accompanied by a rougher fracture surface of the modified epoxy.…”

Carbon nanotube size effect on the mechanical properties and toughness of nanocomposites

“…A discussion on the effect of the filler size on toughness showed that smaller fillers are more efficient in toughening polymers, supporting the feasibility of toughening thermosetting polymers through the addition of nanoparticles . Various types of nano‐sized additives have been used; including silica nanoparticles , nanoclays , carbon nanotubes , carbon nanofibers , and graphene . Blackman et al investigated the characteristic of nanosilica/epoxy nanocomposites, and showed that silica nanoparticles could increase the cyclic‐fatigue performance as well as toughness.…”